New Delhi: Malaysia’s (Malaysia) Sultan Abdullah Ahmad (Sultan Abdullah Ahmad) Shah has allowed Anwar Ibrahim (Anwar Ibrahim) to become the new Prime Minister (New PM). In the general elections held on Saturday last week, due to the failure of any party to get an absolute majority, there was once again a crisis regarding the formation of the government. Malaysia has held three prime ministerial elections since 2018. The Sultan has announced that Anwar Ibrahim will be sworn in as Prime Minister on Thursday evening.
Anwar Ibrahim becoming Prime Minister is also important because he believes in good relations with all countries rather than Islamic reform. Anwar Ibrahim is known as a reformist leader. Anwar Ibrahim becoming Prime Minister will help curtail the rise of right-wing politics in Malaysia. This government is expected to govern better than the previous government. Seeing the possibility of violence after Anwar Ibrahim became the Prime Minister, the police have increased the security system across the country.
Soft attitude towards India?
In October 2019, when then Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad started the Kashmir dispute, Anwar Ibrahim said that Malaysia should resolve its differences with India amicably. Diplomatic and commercial relations between the two countries were strained after Mahathir Mohamad’s controversial statement on Kashmir. Mahathir accused India of invading and occupying Jammu and Kashmir.
Who is Anwar Ibrahim?
In 2018, a reformist coalition won for the first time in Malaysia since independence from Britain in 1957. Anwar Ibrahim was leading this alliance. But Muhyiddin joined hands with UMNO after parting ways with the party. Anwar Ibrahim has been the Deputy Prime Minister of the country in the 1990s. Anwar, 75, has also been jailed on charges of graft and corruption.
Absolute Majority None
Anwar’s Gathbandhan Party (Alliance of Hope) managed to win 82 seats in the general elections held on Saturday. Which is much less than the 112 seats required for majority. At the same time, former Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s Alliance Party (National Alliance) won 73 seats, with its fellow Malay-centric National Party winning the most at 49 seats. A coalition led by the United Malays Organization (UMNO) won 30 seats. It was believed that the UMNO coalition held the key to power.
UMNO initially refused to support Anwar. But with no party getting an absolute majority, the Sultan of Malaysia proposed to form a unity government, after which UMNO has asked to support the unity government. UMNO Secretary General Ahmed Maslan said the party’s highest decision-making team had decided that our alliance would support any unity government other than former prime minister Muhyiddin Camp. Ahmed said the party would support any government formed by Sultan.
The opposition refused to give up
Muhyiddin’s coalition PAS includes the hardline Islamic Party of Malaysia. The PAS coalition won 20 seats in the general election, double the number of seats it won in the 2018 election. PAS supports the country’s Sharia Islam. PAS leader Abdul Hadi Awang refused to accept defeat, saying that our party is still ahead. Alleging a conspiracy, Abdul Hadi said, “We are still right. God willing, we will be safe, the country will be safe.”